


(Possibly Better) Alternatives to Parades

by heckalotta



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blushing, Boys in dresses, Dancing, Flowers, Fluff, General Awkwardness, Lots of blushing, M/M, Pidge is a good friend, Pre-Season/Series 04, Shiro Takes a Nap, Sunsets, feat. Lesbain Alien Queens, formal ball, lots and lots of fluff, oblivious boys, they're both dumb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-18
Updated: 2017-10-18
Packaged: 2019-01-19 08:58:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12407256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heckalotta/pseuds/heckalotta
Summary: Oh my God!Lance screamed at himself internally.How didn’t I realize―“Lance,” Keith deadpanned after watching Lance internally shout at himself.“Keith, the Dae lady thinks we’re dating,” Lance facepalmed.Keith opened and closed his mouth a few times. “Oh.”To secure an alliance with another planet, team Voltron attends a formal ball. Slight issue: an important resident of said planet is convinced Keith and Lance are dating.





	(Possibly Better) Alternatives to Parades

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much to my friend Eli for beta-ing! i loved reading all your comments, they made me smile :)!
> 
> pronunciation guide for the alien names, if you're interested:  
> Taetia: Tay-tea-uh  
> Dae: day  
> Naakti: Nak-tee  
> Teelik: Tea-lick  
> Paedota: Pay-dote-ah

If Lance had to step one foot back in Blue he was gonna hurl.

Today had been… interesting, to say the least. It had started usual enough, another planet to ally with, another species to meet, these ones being Daes ( _ very _ tall bird-like humanoids), on their home planet of Taetia. It had been the usual “Hi, hello, we’re paladins of Voltron, yes,  _ that _ Voltron,” introduction, and all that was left was the paperwork, legalities, and whatnot. But what was smooth sailing, with the two queens of Taetia eager to join the clause, had to be interrupted by Zarkon’s army of purple furries (sorry, Keith), who were all too happy to come flying out of nowhere with one very large fleet, and a second not too far behind when the first had been torn to shreds.

Long story short, the alliance had been postponed. Everyone was exhausted, and collectively decided to hit the hay before Allura could debrief the mission. She managed to get out “We have a celebratory meeting tomorrow,” before everyone grunted in response and made their way to bed.

But now, as Lance made his way down to the observation deck, he couldn’t help the bounce in his step. ‘Celebratory meeting’ got reworded to ‘parade’ in his head, and who could blame him for his excitement? It would be nice to see their work recognized, and to have some fun at the same time. He thought back to all the parades he’d go to with his family, and a warm, fuzzy feeling overtook him.

When he got to the observation deck, everyone was already there. He was the last to wake as per usual, but he got wide-eyed stares upon entry.

“Uh, hey guys. What’s up?” Nobody responded, and Lance shrugged awkwardly. “I mean, I know I sure am something to look at, but this seems a little unnecessary.”

“Nothing, nothing. You’re just up earlier than usual.” Shiro answered.

“Yeah, well,” Lance rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I’m just excited for the parade, is all.” He was met with unimpressed looks. “What?”

“Can you stop going on about parades all the time? We’re not having any,” Pidge said, harshly.

“Hey, don’t get snappy at me! Allura said we were getting one!” He gestured at her. Allura stared back with her brows furrowed in confusion for a moment before realization dawned on her face.

“Oh! You mean the celebratory meeting! Since you’re all here, I can finally finish what I was  _ trying _ to say last night,” she said, throwing a glare around. Everyone sheepishly averted their eyes. “We’ll be meeting with the Daes later this evening for a formal ball. Not a parade,” she added on apologetically, looking at Lance.

“Oh,” Lance said sheepishly.

“Anyways, the Dae will be providing all of the formal wear for the occasion, so we won’t have to worry about finding something ourselves.”

Coran whined, “But I wanted to dig up the traditional Altean party-going attire…”

“Uh, they’re ten foot tall bird people. Where are they gonna find anything that fits  _ us?” _ Pidge asked.

“We’re going down to the palace today to have measurements taken,” Allura answered, “everything will be specifically designed for us; they have complete creative control over the outfits, though. There’s not much telling what they’ll look like.”

Lance groaned at that. It sucked enough that he had missed out on a parade and instead got some dumb ball, but now he had the fruitful opportunity to wear something completely embarrassing. He’d seen enough weird,  _ weird _ alien attire to be apprehensive.  _ No one _ speaks of their negotiations with the Warmonhause. Hunk was clearly thinking of the same thing, as Lance watched a look of panic crossed his face.

Allura shot him a look in response to his groan. “The Dae have incredible influence in this solar system, so everyone  _ better _ be on their best behavior.”

“Not to mention a scary temper!” Coran added in. “I remember one time I travelled to Taetia and someone had insulted the royalty.” He looked away for a second, suddenly weary beyond his years. “Blood,” he murmured, “blood everywhere.”

He had everyone’s undivided attention. No one spoke.

Suddenly, Coran perked back up, cheerful again. “Anyways, I recommend you to at least pretend to be interested,” he teased.

“Okay…” Keith began, wary, “so, uh, when do we head over?”

“As soon as you’re all ready to leave,” Allura responded, seemingly amused by Coran’s monologue. “We still need to finalize some agreements. Shiro, as the leader of Voltron, I’d like you to come with me to represent the team.” Shiro nodded. “Good. The rest of you will have time to get acquainted with the Dae’s castle before the ball.”

With an affirmative nod from the group, Allura dismissed them. Pidge gave Lance an apologetic look, probably for snapping at him earlier, before going, with Shiro following.

“Hunk, my boy,” Coran said, “I have a favour to ask you. When we arrive planetside, could you come with me to the palace’s kitchen to stock up on more food?”

“Sure,” Hunk agreed with a smile. “What’s the cuisine there like?”

“They quite enjoy fruit, and bugs! The last time I visited…”

The conversation faded out of Lance’s earshot as they left. Now alone on the deck, he sighed and stretched, mocking nonchalance. He bent backwards and sighed again as his back gave a little pop, but froze before coming back up as he felt someone’s eyes on him. He looked around and, oh, there was Keith, laser-gaze locked on.

“Uh, hi buddy. Castleship to Keith, come in, Keith.”

Keith jumped, apparently snapping out of some daze. “Oh,” he cleared his throat. “Hey.”

“Don’t you have something to be doing? We don’t have too much longer until we need to head out.”

“No, I’m fine,” he scowled, turning his gaze away. Lance shrugged, before walking back into Keith’s line of sight.

“Alright. Try not to be too moody, okay?” He said, smiling a little. Keith’s eyes only widened, and he looked away again.

“Sure, whatever,” he mumbled. Lance quirked an eyebrow at his weird behavior. Oh well. Keith could be grumpy all he wanted; Lance decided was going to try and make the best of this ball, parade or not.

 

* * *

 

The group approached the Dae’s castle after travelling down a well worn but maintained dirt path on foot, their own castle parked not too far away. When they reached it, the palace took everyone’s breath away. It was huge, made of woven vines, tree roots, and other greenery. It was covered in blooming leaves, flowers and fruit alike. The Daes could manipulate nature via some sort of quintessence magic, Coran had explained on the walk down. It was situated in the middle of the planet’s almost endless forests, and still took the form of a three-spired castle.  _ That was universal, apparently, _ Lance chuckled to himself.

Two giant wooden doors carved with beautiful images of what might be Dae folklore, or maybe history, greeted them as they reached the castle, and slowly pulled open of their own accord.

“Nature manipulation,” Coran re-stated, twirling his moustache with a smile on his face.

The hallway that greeted them was just as beautiful. The woven texture of the walls, ceilings, floors,  _ everything _ , made for an interesting and intricate design. There were lots of gaps in the walls and roofing that served as windows and skylights, along with some other light fixtures for when night fell and the natural lighting was lost. The hall itself held many rooms, undoubtedly branching off into even more, judging by the palace’s size. At the end of the hall was another set of doors, while not as large, just as magnificently carved.

“That’s the entrance to the Queens’ private chambers,” Allura said, before turning to enter said room. Lance chuckled as Hunk’s gaze didn’t move from the doors, nosey as always. Pidge was poking around the gaps in the walls, and even stuck her foot in one and tested how it held her weight. Being the concerned leader he was, a frowning Shiro quickly made his way over to shut down whatever was going on before it started. Keith, however, was back to his laser-staring at Lance, and Lance was no less confused about it compared to last time.

“Dude. Keith. Did anyone ever teach you staring was rude?”

Surprised at being caught again, he flushed and looked away. “Shut up.”

“Honestly,  _ what _ is the issue―” Lance started, but was interrupted by Allura’s return.

“Alright,” she began, “the Queens’ professional tailors will be out in a moment to take your measurements. They work very fast, so things tend to get… hectic.” She shared a knowing look with Coran. Despite the bickering, Lance and Keith exchanged worried glances.

A door to their right opened, and a group of Daes entered the room. A number of them each seemed to be assigned to one paladin, and they ushered everyone out to seperate rooms to be measured. Lance, not a fan of being herded anywhere, was hesitant to follow, but the Daes managed to get him into the changeroom. Many branches held many bright, tropical-coloured fabrics, jewels, intricately carved amulets, and other accessories. Every outfit they pulled off the racks to see how it looked against his frame were sleeveless because of the Daes’ winged arms, instead held up by halter of jewels or just fabric. All of the fabric was soft, silky, and flowing.

“Please stand in front of the mirror,” an orange Dae, who was seemingly the boss of the other tailors, asked. Lance did so, facing it, only to be whipped back around. “You’re the blue paladin, right?”

“Yeah,” Lance responded.

The Dae nodded back to another who was rummaging through piles of fabric. They grabbed a navy blue, which the first pulled against Lance. He looked at the fabric, then Lance, then the fabric again.

“Are you sure?” He asked.

“Uh. Yes?”

The Dae scoffed, “Well, that won’t do. Not at all. Find me something else!” He barked back to his assistants.

“Roger that, Naakti,” another tailor called. From there it was wash, rinse, repeat. A flurry of cloths, all shapes and sizes, were brought out, with Lance being spun this way and that. At one point he even felt nauseous, and made a point to maybe not tease Hunk so much about his motion sickness.

Finally, finally, the boss decided on something. “Yes. This colour does you wonders,” he said, pride all over his face, before turning Lance back towards the mirror. The fabric was yellow in colour and had an… oddly triangular texture.

“I look like a giant pineapple,” Lance deadpanned, and watched in the mirror as Naakti’s smirk fell off his face.

“Fine. A different texture,” he said, heading back to the piles of fabric and yanking one out in a clean swoop. “Humans have no appreciation for fashion, I swear,” he mumbled as he headed back over, with the same colour of fabric, but without the… “fashionable” pineapple elements of its predecessor.

“Are you happy now?” Naakti asked, still clearly put off. Lance turned over the fabric in his hands, before giving it back to the Dae.

“Yeah,” he said, giving him one of his million-dollar smiles. “It looks good.”

The distaste fell off the Dae’s face, and the feathers around his head made an odd ruffling movement. “W-well,” he said, “great. Now, get out please. The experts have work to do.” He not-so-gently booted Lance out of the room, saying something about sending out a message later, when his outfit would be done.

“ _ Okay _ then,” Lance said, looking back at the dressing room’s door confusedly before heading back to the main hall to meet with everyone.

“Oh, Lance,” Allura said upon his entrance, “you’re done. How’d it go?”

“It went okay. The head tailor was kinda sassy though.” Everyone nodded, except Hunk, who was, well, hunky-dory.

“What, really? I don’t know what you guys did wrong. That was so simple!”

“We can’t all be as effortlessly charming as you, Hunk,” Pidge muttered. “They tried to take my glasses, like, nine times.”

“They kept touching my hair,” Keith added with slight unease.

“Wow, even a bunch of bird people know your mullet’s out of style,” Lance teased.

“ _ Again _ with the hair,” Keith huffed and turned away.

“Okay, if that’s settled,” Allura said, not interested in watching Keith and Lance argue over hairstyles, “I’ll go with Shiro to speak some more with the queens. Mostly about Voltron and our overall mission. That should give you plenty of time to explore.”

“Are you sure, Allura?” Hunk asked. “It sounds like you’ll be missing out.”

“Please,” Allura said, cracking her knuckles, “I’m a princess. Diplomacy is my forté.”

“Maybe you guys could throw in some team bonding while we’re gone? But, regardless of what you do, be on your best behavior.” Shiro said, not so subtly throwing a look at Lance.

“When do I not behave?”

“Nyma,” everyone said at once.

“That was  _ one _ time, guys! C’mon!”

 

* * *

 

Unfortunately for Shiro’s team bonding idea, everyone split up almost instantly. Hunk and Coran headed to the kitchens, as previously planned, and Pidge began trailing a robot of some sort (Lance took a moment to pity it). Keith and Lance were left alone.

“So… what do you think there is to do around here?” Lance gestured to all the doors around them. “Maybe they have a pool around here or something! One that actually functions. Aw man, I bet the pools here would be so cool. Oooh, what if they were like little birdbaths―”

“If there’s a pool maybe there’d be a training deck too,” Keith interrupted.

“Wh- dude, seriously? All we do on the ship is train, and we get to a  _ tree palace _ and all you wanna do is train more? That’s kinda lame.”

“I was just―! My ideas aren’t lame! I bet you thought of something dumber, like climbing the palace or something.”

“ _ Uh, _ no,” Lance denied, even though the thought may or may not have crossed his mind.

Keith crossed his arms. “Sure.”

Before Lance could shoot back a totally awesome and  _ not _ lame comeback like ‘oh yeah well  _ you’re _ dumb’, they were interrupted by a blue and yellow feathered Dae. She wore a yellow summer dress, complete with a silk cape. She was drowning in jewelry, indicating her wealth.

“Oh my,” she said, with a heavy accent, throwing Lance off. Usually the lions used their mental link or whatnot to do all the translating between alien languages, keeping it from sounding accented when someone spoke, so she must actually be speaking English on her own. “Two more humans! Bickering like an elderly nested couple. How adorable. Tell me,” she spoke in a mischievous tone, crouching down to their height. “Are you two having human relations?”

“Human relations?” Keith shot Lance a look.

“Yeah, as in, you must be… now, what’s the word?” She pressed a hand to her forehead in concentration. “Ah, I can’t remember. But you  _ do _ have human relations, correct?”

“Uh… yes?” Keith tried, even if he was clearly unsure of what he was answering. The Dae lady quite literally chirped in response.

“Perfect! I must prepare for the ball, and I wanted something romantic. Come!” She demanded before grabbing their wrists and taking off running, inhumanly fast. It reminded Lance of an ostrich or something along those lines. He and Keith were pretty much being dragged along behind her. Keith gave Lance a helpless look, and Lance barked out a laugh.

After a labyrinth of twisted halls, they arrived at a large room. It was oval shaped with walls that seemed to stretch on forever. Said walls were completely covered with flowers of all shapes and sizes. Light filtered through the open roof. The Dae gave Keith and Lance a moment to catch their breaths.

“Here,” she said. “I’m in need of input.”

“On the flowers?” Lance questioned

“Yes, yes,” she said, impatiently. She stared down at the two expectantly, clearly waiting for a response. The boys exchanged a look.

“They’re growing nicely?” Keith tried, only to get a snorty laugh in response.

“Of course they are!” The Dae responded. “ _ I’m _ the one who’s growing them! You humans are so adorable. I want you to choose some, see?” She said, pulling a daisy-esque flower from the wall. “Pick some. Romantic ones!” She placed the white flower back where she pulled it out, and with a wave of her hand, the flower reattached itself to the stem.

“Woah,” Lance commented. He moved to turn back to the walls to examine the flowers, but Keith wasn’t persuaded by that little trick and asked  _ why _ they were picking flowers.

“For the ball,” she answered, “you must have good tastes in flowers, yeah? It’s a human tradition for…” The Dae faltered, pressing one of her wings to her face. “Skies above,  _ what _ is the word… ugh, anyways, you two exchange flowers, yes? Give each other gifts, go places together, and whatnot?” I’ve been reading up on human traditions.” The Dae looked proud of herself.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Keith said, bluntly as ever. The Dae’s face fell, and she looked in between confused and irritated.

“Well, I do!” Lance covered up quickly. “Yeah, we exchange flowers, ‘n gifts and stuff all the time, right man?” He steered Keith away, and whispered in his ear, “Just go along with it, okay? You remember what Coran said about their tempers, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, fine,” Keith responded, a little flushed. He pulled away to go look at the wall of flowers to their right, while Lance headed to the left.

The variety of flowers in front of him was nothing like Lance had ever seen before, though. Some had singular petals, and others had what looked to be millions. Some looked soft, and other flowers looked like they’d eat Lance for breakfast. He must’ve been gaping at the wall for quite a while, because the Dae walked over to him and started up a conversation.

“There are many flowers, eh?”

Lance awkwardly scratched the back of his head. “You’re telling me. And you said you grew this all yourself?”

She nodded, pride slipping onto her face. “I would call it a hobby, but I suppose by this point it’s closer to my life’s work. Finding and cataloging flowers from across the universe, making sure they can grow here, that they’re safe to introduce to the planet. It’s no small feat.”

“It’s amazing, really, but why? Why go through all the effort?”

The Dae’s expression softened. “You’d never guess it, but my wife adores flowers. It’s how I first met her, wandering in one of the many gardens around this palace.”

Lance groaned loudly, leaning back and bringing his hands to his face. “Are you kidding me? That is  _ so _ romantic. And you want  _ us _ to pick romantic flowers for you?”

She laughed. “I arrange all the bouquets for all the palace events! It gets stale, and what  _ I _ think is romantic might differ from what you think is romantic.”

“Oh, alright. Okay, I’ll try.”  _ Romance, romance, romance, find something romantic, _ Lance thought, as he scanned all the flowers. After a few minutes, he gave up. “Nothing’s standing out! I don’t know what to look for.”

“That’s okay, I’ll help,” the Dae said, pulling them out of Keith’s earshot. “Think of your partner over there.” They turned to face him. Keith looked back warily, as he couldn’t overhear them anymore. After what was probably him making sure the Dae wasn’t doing anything that involved Lance getting cuffed to trees, he gave them a small wave before turning back to examine flowers with a cute seriousness.

“My space ranger partner?” Lance said, waving back.

She chuckled. “Sure. Now, let’s see. How would you describe him?”

Lance snapped back to attention. “Keith? We’ll, he’s really good at hand-to-hand combat, and he pilots really well, even if he likes to take stupid-crazy risks and give everyone on the team heart attacks, and―”

“No, no,” the Dae said, waving her hand dismissively. “Those are thing he does.  _ Who _ is he?”

“Who is he…?”

The lady let out a little huff. “For example, my wife has achieved many great things, but those aren’t who she is. She’s brave, and yet will never believe it. She loves flying, and she has a perch she always goes to when she wants to think. She― well, I think you get the point.”

“Yeah, okay, I see what you mean. Keith, uh…” Lance paused.  _ Who _ Keith was. Well: “He’s so serious, but man, when you finally land a joke that hits, making him laugh makes it all worth it. Hunk’s usually better at that, though. He also can’t cook to save his life.” Lance smiled to himself. “We left him alone in the kitchen once.  _ Do not do that. _ You’d swear he’d pulled the fire powers straight from his lion. Coran banned him from the kitchen for a week. I wonder how he even survived in that shack he lived in. Back on Earth, that is,” he clarified for the Dae. She nodded along.

Lance’s expression fell. “He pretends like he doesn’t care, like he doesn’t feel homesick, but you can tell he misses his old home, at least a little bit. It must’ve been so nice and quiet there― he loves the peace and quiet― but, gee, it’s so lonely…” He fell silent, and the Dae gave him an empathetic look. “Keith doesn’t let on to much of his past, but I don’t think it was the best. It makes you appreciate his determined attitude even more, y’know?”

The Dae nodded. “You know him very well. I can see why he’s your partner.”

“Yeah― wait, what?” Lance scrunched his eyebrows. When she said it like  _ that _ , it sounded weird.

“He’s your partner because you care deeply for each other, yeah? Your companion in life?”

“What?” Lance exclaimed again, just as confused as embarrassed.

With a snort of laughter and a forceful “pat” to Lance’s back, sending him stumbling, she said, “Do not act so flustered! If you’re partners, you must be open with your romance! Regardless, I think I have the right flower for him.”

With a powerful spring of her talons and a flap of her wings, she soared up a solid ten feet, leaving Lance tomato-faced on the ground. She gently plucked a flower from the wall and floated back down gracefully.

“This is a molten lily. They grow atop volcanoes on their home planet, and bloom the best in the heat venting there. It’s incredibly tolerant to most weather conditions, and grows where others will not. Despite their strength, they don’t try to overtake plants growing nearby.” The flower was orange-red in colour, and not unlike the lilies that grew on Earth. “Hold your hands above it,” she instructed, and smiled in approval when Lance did. “They naturally radiate heat. Now try to pull a petal off.”

Lance looked up at her, confused, before grasping a petal and tugging. Nothing. He yanked harder, but the flower refused to be torn.

“It’s one of the strongest plants in my collection,” she smiled.

“It sure is pretty,” Lance commented, mesmerised by the colour and alien aspects of the flower. The petals almost had a flowing texture, and it reminded Lance of lava.

“Good!” the Dae exclaimed, playful again, snapping Lance out of his thoughts. “Then it’s just like your Keith in every aspect!” She dropped the lily into his hands, and grabbed Lance by the shoulders, shoving him in Keith’s direction.

“Okay, okay, hold on a second.  _ My _ Keith? Listen, he’s not my anything―”

“You’re  _ partners, _ you told me so! Now go exchange flowers like they do in human tradition!”

The Dae practically shoved Lance into Keith’s back before springing off somewhere else up higher in the room. Lance let out an “oof!” before falling on his butt, while Keith practically jumped out of his skin, and spun around to face him.

“Lance? What the- what are you doing?”

Scrambling to his feet, Lance hid the lily behind his back. “Oh, uh, hey Keith, how are you doing finding flowers?” He winced at his speech. He sounded  _ so _ flustered. Keith quirked an eyebrow at his strange behavior, but seemed to brush it off.

“I’ve never really been flower picking before, but I found some I thought were nice.”

“Oh, cool! Which ones?”

“One’s right here,” Keith gestured to a large blue plant behind him. It resembled a cactus, if cacti were thin, spiraled, and royal blue. “It’s kinda funny-looking. It reminds me of you.” Keith trailed off and flushed, and looked at the ground.

“ _ Excuse you, _ I am  _ not  _ funny-looking―”

Keith snapped his attention back up. “No! I meant those separately. It looks funny but it  _ also _ reminds me of you.”

“How does a cactus remind you of me? Aside from being blue?”

Keith looked away again, and Lance resisted stepping back into his eyesight.

“It, you know, it’s a cactus, and it made me think of all the cacti back in the desert where I lived. And you talk about the Earth a lot.”

“O-oh,” Lance said, when suddenly the Dae lady called down from somewhere at the top of the room:

“Give him the flower!”

They both looked up at the ceiling in surprise.  _ Here we go, _ Lance thought.

“Is she talking to me?” Keith asked. “Why is she up there anyways?”

“No, she’s, uh, talking to me.” She wasn’t gonna let this go, was she? Keith looked at him curiously. Lance pulled the flower out from behind his back, and felt his face go a little red. “It’s a, um, it’s a magma lily. They grow on volcanoes and stuff. If you hold your hands over it,” he said, impatiently grabbing Keith’s wrist and holding his hand over the flower when he didn’t move them, “you can feel the heat it gives off. A-and you can’t pull the petals off. It’s really strong.” When he realized he was still holding Keith’s wrist, he let go with a nervous chuckle. A fair amount of red had found it’s way onto Keith’s cheeks, and Lance was sure he mirrored it.

“It’s… uh, neat― er, pretty. It’s a pretty flower. Um… thanks, Lance. That’s really nice of you.” He said with a soft smile. It was genuine, and Lance wondered if Keith had been given many gifts in his life.

Lance anxiously scratched the back of his head. “Yeah. Sure. No problem.”

“But, um, why are you giving this to me?”

Well, maybe the fact that a giant bird lady with horrifyingly sharp talons was looming somewhere up above him had something to do with it, although he wasn’t complaining about the small, almost private smile Keith had gave him. But yeah, death by giant bird lady was the main driving force here. Not like he could announce that though; he didn’t think the Dae would be very pleased.

“Uh,” Lance started to sweat. “It’s ‘cause we’re… partners?”

Keith’s face lit up, putting any red LED light to shame.

“Like! Uh, like spacefaring partners, partners in crime―”

“You… partners? You think we’re partners?” Keith sounded so sincere, Lance didn’t know what to do.

“In an 100% platonic way! You know! Not― not anything romantic. No mushy feelings here!” He covered, turning away, but not fast enough to see a hope dawning on Keith’s face shatter.  _ What was…? _

Instantly, the Dae lady dropped to the ground besides them with a loud clunk, and Lance did  _ not _ let out a high-pitched yelp. Besides, Keith totally jumped anyways.

“No no no,” she said, panicked, “what’re you talking about? You don’t want be partners anymore?”

“We were never―” Lance began.

“Why are you ending things here?” She turned to Lance, looming over him. “After all you told me―!”

Lance responded to her intimidating stature with what only seemed most appropriate: a squeak.

“Was the flower not a good enough gift?” She looked between the two of them. Keith had donned his (ultimately, iconic) confused/upset pout-glare, while Lance felt caught between guilty and a deer in the headlights.

“That’s fine!” The Dae quickly backtracked. “That’s fine, there are better gifts that can be given! Come along!” That was the only warning the two paladins got before she had scooped them up, one cradled in each wing, and took off for a joyride around the castle.

“What is  _ happening _ ?” Keith called over the wind rushing in their ears. “Lance, what did you  _ do?” _

“I―” Lance began to respond, but the image of Keith, with an incredulous expression on his face, flower clutched in hand to keep it from flying away, and hair whisking around him, aside from looking ridiculous, did funny things to Lance’s chest.

“I don’t know!” Lance laughed out, only increasing in volume as he whooped when the Dae turned a corner extra hard, like a drift. He  _ swore _ he heard a laugh bubble out from Keith too.

She entered what looked like the kitchen, and almost collided head-on with Hunk and Coran, who were crouched over one of the counters, examining some sort of food. Hunk only gaped when Lance mouthed  _ help us _ to him, which was fair, honestly.

The Dae regained herself in a moment’s time, and took off before anyone could do anything. A few more turns at dizzying speeds later, she paused underneath what looked like the Dae equivalent to a skylight. With a chorus of “ _ no no no no no no no, _ ” from Keith and Lance, she hunched her legs and shot up through it. The skylight opened up to a small plateau jutting out from the palace wall, and she landed on it.

“Look,” she said, a little winded, as she dropped the two to their feet. “Nothing is more beautiful than a Taetia sunset. You  _ must _ want to resume your partnership after witnessing such an awe-inspiring sight together!”

“Okay, listen,” Keith snapped, rounding on her, “I have no idea what you’re going on about. I have no idea what you and Lance talked about over in that flower-room, so I’m missing some pretty vital context, apparently. What  _ is _ all this ‘partner’ talk?”

“You― what?” The Dae gaped at him for a bit. Lance braced himself, preparing to jump in front of Keith, in case running his mouth was about to come with serious consequences.

Realization dawned on her face. “Ohh,” she not-so-quietly whispered, turning to Lance. “You haven’t told him yet, have you?”

Lance balked. “Told him  _ what?” _ A large grin spread across the Dae’s face.

“Don’t worry,” she said, “this is one of the best places to talk it out. I’ll leave you to it, then.” She stepped backwards, and with a  _ woosh _ , she fell back down the skylight and glided off.

Keith rounded on him immediately. “Care to explain what  _ that _ was about?”

“I don’t―!” Lance pulled at his hair. “I don’t know!”

“Could you at least tell me what you two talked about, then?”

“She was telling me to find some romantic flowers, and stuff, and I couldn’t,” Lance backtracked, “then she told me to think of you, and then to pick some―”

_ Oh my God! _ Lance screamed at himself internally.  _ All of the ‘you  _ must  _ exchange flowers and gifts’, the ‘oh, here’s a romantic flower based on your  _ partner _ ”, how didn’t I realize _ ―

“Lance,” Keith deadpanned after watching Lance internally shout at himself.

“Keith, the Dae lady thinks we’re dating,” Lance facepalmed.

Keith opened and closed his mouth a few times. “Oh.”

“Yeah,  _ oh,” _

“Well, what the heck was she doing dropping us up here, then?”

“I… got nothing,” Lance sat with a sigh. “Well, at least she was right about the sunset. It is pretty.” Keith plunked down to Lance’s right. Oranges melted into the indigo sky of Taetia, and casted everything in a lazy glow. From up there, they could see the huge expanse of the planet’s forests, and the wildlife that lived in them that called out into the air.

“Yeah, I guess it kinda is.” Keith agreed.

“Front-row seats up here, I guess!” Lance turned and gave him a weary smile.

“You’re ridiculous,” Keith huffed. He paused and looked over the plateau. “It’s lucky neither of us are afraid of heights.”

“Wait,” Lance said, before panicking, “ _ wait _ wait wait, how are we supposed to get down?” They were way too high up to jump down. Looking over the edge made Lance a little queasy.

“Uh… climb, maybe?”

“At sunset? We’ll never make it to the bottom before it gets dark! I am  _ not _ breaking this beautiful face off the ground, Keith!”

“I guess we’ll have to wait for the team to figure out we’re missing,” Keith offered. “Just admire the view until then.”

Lance sighed. “Fine. Sure.”

They sat in silence for a while, as the sun sunk further below the horizon. Purple hues melted into each other. As it got darker, billions of stars blinked into light, along with a green dancing light, not unlike the northern lights back on Earth. The wildlife called out about the night, and Lance laid down, relaxing into it. Keith remained upright, resting his chin on his knees. Lance found himself unable to look away as he watched Keith’s face as he calmly stared out into the horizon, looking softer than he’d seen in awhile.

After a while, Keith broke the silence. “This almost reminds me of the nights in the desert.”

Lance opened his eyes. “When you were out in that shack?” Keith huffed at ‘shack’.

“ _ Yes, _ out in the shack.” His tone softened again. “Sometimes I would stargaze on the roof.”

“I would stargaze too, sometimes,” Lance said, sitting back up. “When I didn’t go out and party, that was. Sometimes just sneaking to the Garrison roof was enough. It just felt so… cramped, sometimes.”

Keith nodded in agreement. Lance imagined this was rather relatable to the guy who went far enough to drop out.

“When I first left,” Keith started, clearly on the same mindtrack, “I’d just take my speeder and drive as far as I could at night. Just to see what was out there.”

“ _ What was out there,” _ Lance repeated to himself, softly.

“In the end, it turned out to be a lot bigger than that desert. You know, with Voltron and all.” He finished awkwardly, gesturing with his hand.

Lance smiled. “Yeah, I don’t think any of us expected to be out here, piloting giant lions, exploring planets outside of the solar system, liberating them left, right, and center.”

“No,” Keith snorted. “Defenders of the universe. Wow.”

“Voltron almighty, baby!” Lance pumped a fist in the air, raising a laugh out of Keith. He turned to look at Keith with shy admiration. “But, I guess you were always destined for almighty, huh?”

Keith’s smile fell. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t pretend to be all bashful! Keith, number one pilot fighter at the Garrison, space boy wonder? Of  _ course _ you’re almighty.”

“Sure didn’t feel like that,” he muttered.

“What do you mean?”

“I was― just, I was really lost when I first left the Garrison. I had no idea what I was doing. I never really felt  _ almighty.” _

“But―”

“Rank isn’t everything, Lance. Just because I was top of the class didn’t mean I was happy.”

Lance frowned at the ground. “Oh.”

“Honestly, if anyone here’s almighty, it’s you.”

Lance whipped his gaze up. “Are you kidding me? No way.”

“What?” Keith asked, quirking an eyebrow. Apparently he expected Lance to jump all over that praise.

“I’m not anything like  _ you, _ let alone almighty,” Lance huffed, crossing his arms.

“Well…” Keith started cautiously, “what are you then?”

Lance did a small shrug. “I dunno,” he mumbled. “Just Lance.”

“ _ Just _ Lance?” Keith said, incredulously.

“Sure. Everyone’s favourite seventh wheel,” he tried to joke, “y’know, with Coran and Allura, and all.”  
“What? No, stop that.” Keith grabbed Lance by the shoulders when he just shrugged again, and turned him to look Keith in the eyes. “Why are you saying stuff like that about yourself?”

“Because it’s true!” Lance pulled away. “I don’t bring anything new to the table.”

“Sure you do!”

“Like what?” Lance eyed Keith skeptically.

“Like, you know, that thing you do when you talk with someone, and you, you know, when you, like…” Keith groaned at his wording, frustrated. “Okay, we both know I am very, very bad at talking to people, but  _ you’re _ not!”

“Wow, thanks,” Lance snorted.

“No, listen to me,” Keith started again. “You’re open. You make yourself easy to talk to. Someone like Pidge or Hunk wouldn’t come to talk to me if they were upset. And I wouldn’t ever go up to them if I saw they were upset, because I wouldn’t know what to say, or do. I probably wouldn’t pick up on it in the first place.

“You’re the one who holds the team together, Lance. Nobody else on the team brings people together like you, with your personality, and your smile, and your laugh, and your,” Keith gestured to Lance in general, before averting his gaze.

“You’re― you’re really important to us, Lance, to the team,” Keith paused, dropping his gaze. A pause, a whisper: “To me. We need you, Lance.”

Lance was frozen still; didn’t move a muscle. The longer he was silent, the more fidgety and awkward Keith got, his face pinking.

“You really think so?” He managed after a while.

“Yes!” Keith snapped back around to face Lance. “Uh. Yeah. I mean it.”

“For real?”

“Lance, yeesh, yes. For real.” Lance let out a little sniffling noise. Keith’s eyes widened in surprise. “What― oof!”

Lance had tackle-hugged Keith around the center, burying his face into the other’s chest. After a moment, Keith’s hovering hands came down to rest on Lance’s back, patting him stiffly. After a moment, Lance drew back.

“Sorry, sorry,” he laughed, weakly, wiping at his wet eyes. “That was lame. It― I just― thank you. That meant a lot. Especially from you. Thank you, Keith.”

Keith smiled at him, a genuine on. “Any time.”

Suddenly, a warm orange glow began to emit from somewhere on the ground.

“What the― what’s that?” Lance asked.

“It’s… it’s the flower?” Keith answered, just as surprised. He picked it up off the floor.

“You still have that?”

“Er, yeah.”

And it  _ glows.” _

“I guess.”

In the flower’s light, Lance could see Keith’s face a bit better. His jawline was accented in the light, and  _ oh gee, _ those navy eyes were looking right at him, the glow getting caught in them looked like a ring of fire. Even his stupid mullet shimmered in an unfairly shampoo commercial-esque way.

“Lance, you alright?” Keith asked when Lance froze up again, but Lance barely registered his voice. Before he could squash the urge, he took the flower, and as Keith had begun to say “What are you doing―” the lily was tucked behind his ear. Lance admired his handiwork for an entire second before yanking his hands away like he’d been burned. He looked away and stared into the ground as he felt his face go bright red.

“I’m sorry, I just thought it would look nice in your hair so I― uh,” he stopped himself as he felt something brush behind his own ear. He looked at Keith, who no longer had the flower nestled in his hair. His face looked flush.

“I was right,” he whispered.

“Right about  _ what?” _ Lance managed to choke out.

“It looks better in your hair.”

 

* * *

 

Luckily, Lance’s plea for help had not gone unnoticed, and Coran and Hunk ran off to find the rest of the team. After hunting around the castle, they found Pidge scaled halfway up the walls, tearing apart one of the castle’s lights.

“Pidge,” Hunk asked, “what are you doing?” Letting out a surprised yelp, Pidge lost grip on the ridges of the wall and the wires of the light. Coran caught her before she tumbled to the ground. Quickly regaining her composure, she slid out of his grip.

“Uh… not dissecting the castle’s lighting system?”

“Pidge…” Coran began, but she waved him off before he cold reprimand her.

“I wasn’t damaging anything, I swear! Apparently all Dae tech uses solar energy, but I wanted to know―”

“That’s great, Pidge,” Hunk cut in, earning a sour look from her. “But have you seen Lance and Keith around? Possibly being carried by a blue and yellow Dae?”

Pidge’s brows furrowed. “No, should I have? What happened?”

“Coran and I were in the kitchen when this Dae comes running in, Keith in one arm, and Lance in the other. Lance mouthed ‘help us’, but man, Dae are fast. She took off before we could do anything.”

“They got  _ abducted?” _

“Maybe?”

“Oh, quiznak. What should we do?”

“Let’s continue to look for everyone else,” Coran suggested. “We don’t want to ruin a fresh alliance over what could be a little misunderstanding.” The paladins nodded, and they were off, leaving the light fixture in tatters.

After hiking around the castle for quite some time they found Allura and Shiro in what seemed to be some sort of lounge. There were lots of seats with green cushions, and the roof was high and had flowers and plants draping off of it. Shiro was peacefully napping on one of the chairs, and Allura was animatedly conversing with another Dae on a couch they shared, periodically giggling.

Coran called for Allura, who politely paused her conversation before heading over.

“What is it, you all? I was in the middle of a conversation,” she said, gesturing back to the pink Dae, who waved back a little.

“Sorry to interrupt, Princess, but we suspect Lance and Keith have been abducted by a Dae.”

Allura frowned. “You’re joking, right?” Coran filled her in on what they saw in the kitchen, and and she brought her hands to her face. “Of  _ course _ ,” she groaned.

“Should we wake up Shiro?” Pidge asked. Allura turned back to look at him, and her face softened. Hunk looked past them to see him as well. Shiro was completely slouched, the stress that was usually 90% of his facial expression unwound, and the bags under his eyes were less prominent. Hunk wondered how many nights he actually got a sleep like this.

“He looks so relaxed,” he commented.

“Yes,” Allura answered. Sighing, she walked over and gently shook his shoulder. He jumped a bit waking up, already defensive before Allura assured him everything was fine. Well, besides the lack of their two team members.

“They were  _ what? _ Shoot, of course they’d get into trouble. I shouldn’t have taken that nap―”

“Shiro, it’s fine,” Allura said. “It’s not your fault. We’ll find them, okay?”

“Knowing Lance,” Hunk piped up, “it’s probably just some shenanigan. He didn’t look scared, or anything. Maybe frazzled.”

“A Nyma type of shenanigan, maybe?” Pidge offered.

“With our lions secure in the castle and Keith involved? Not likely.”

Coran’s eyes crinkled with his smile. “Depends on who’s the ‘Nyma’ is in the situation.” Hunk let out a snort of laughter, while Pidge looked between the two, confused.

“What?” She asked. “What did I miss?”

 

* * *

 

Pidge had been looking for those clowns for what felt like forever.

The team decided to split up and search the castle in sections, only to report back to the lounge when the  _ entire _ area of wherever they’d been assigned was covered. Turning down the last hallway of her assigned area, Pidge sighed to herself.  _ Yes _ , searching the castle was tedious, but she couldn’t help but be worried rather than annoyed.

When Pidge got halfway down the hall, a laugh rang out from somewhere. Freezing, she warily looked around, until another voice carried along, obnoxious and naturally drawing in her attention.

_ Lance! _ Pidge thought. She looked around eagerly, but the hallway was an empty dead end and she didn’t see any doors that the voice could be coming from, only a skylight showcasing the stars above.  _ There’s no way… _ Listening intently again confirmed her suspicions. The voice was coming from the roof.

“You’re kidding,” Pidge grumbled to herself before beginning another climb up the walls. Getting closer, she could hear two voices.  _ So, Keith’s still with him. At least that makes things easier. But really guys, the  _ roof _? _

Lance was animatedly telling a story about trying to sneak back to his Garrison dorm with Hunk after being out past curfew, something Pidge had seen the tail end of multiple times. But in this particular story, they had apparently managed to scare the life out of Iverson in the meantime. Keith, who’s regard for Iverson was apparently no higher than Lance’s, laughed along and encouraged him to keep going. As Pidge swung a hand through the opening of the skylight and gripped onto the edge, the story came to a close.

“You cannot  _ believe _ how tempted I was to ask, ‘Mr. Iverson, do you think ghosts are real?’ in class the next day.” Keith let out another bout of laughter, which Lance quickly joined in on.

“Hey, idiots!” Pidge called out, scrabbling to get onto the roof. “A little help?” Both boys whipped around, eyes wide, and she almost felt bad for ruining the light atmosphere. She felt considerably less bad after she lost her footing and began slipping. Lance let out a gasp and lunged for her, yanking Pidge back up with a bit of help from Keith.

“Pidge!” He squawked, once she was safe. “What are you doing up here?”

“We’ve been looking everywhere for you guys! Coran and Hunk were going on about how you’d been kidnapped!” She grouped them into a hug, before pulling back and giving them each a light punch. “But  _ nooo _ , you’re both perfectly fine and hanging out here while everyone worries their brains out!”

“Perfectly fine?” Lance exclaimed. “We’ve been stuck up here all evening after some Dae dropped us up here!”

“You didn’t consider, oh, I don’t know, climbing down?”

“We’re not stupid,” Keith snapped, “yes, we did consider climbing down, but it was too dark and way too far down.” Lance nodded his head, and gestured out to the ground to accentuate Keith’s point.

“Did you consider climbing down back through the  _ skylight? _ Plenty of light in there, and it can’t be higher than twelve feet. I climbed it just fine.”

Lance opened his mouth to continue arguing, but after a moment’s consideration snapped it shut. “Um. No.”

Pidge sighed, and headed back towards the skylight. “C’mon, let’s go regroup with everyone.”

“Er, Pidge?” Keith began.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks. For looking for us.”

“What he said,” Lance tacked on.

She let her frustration fizzle away. “Yeah, whatever. I’m glad you guys are okay.” Pidge looked back and smiled. Lance promptly returned it, Keith a little slower. Before turning, she paused. “Lance, why do you have a flower in your hair?”

Both boys froze up. “Uh,” Lance tried, and failed. “I― I picked it out?” Pidge gave him a weird look before shrugging and dropping it.

Together, they began the descent back down. Lance may or may not have slipped and hit the ground three fourths of the way down. He’d deny it if you asked.

 

* * *

 

When they returned, there was little time to celebrate that Keith and Lance were safe and sound, as the ball was almost upon them. That didn’t stop Pidge from ranting about how they were “fine and could’ve just climbed back down to civilization, but instead decided to make stupid chit-chat instead,” which earned Lance weird looks from both Hunk  _ and _ Coran, both he promptly ignored. It was just two bros chillin’.

Probably.

Anyways, Lance pushed this away for later as they were all ushered off once again to the dressing rooms, to try their outfits on for the ball.  _ Right, the ball. _ Lance allowed himself a moment to panic about his lead tailor (Naakti, was it?) going back on his promise of minimizing the pineapple influence on his outfit while he was pushed back into the changeroom.

They pulled out a  _ dress _ , of all things. Not that Lance was against it; it was just unexpected. He was given privacy to try it on, but after that the tailors were back all over him. It had a jeweled collar, and the yellow dress flowing from it was strapless. A translucent blue cowl also extended from the collar, draping his biceps and coming back to form a long cape that swished across the ground. A slit ran up the left side of the dress. It was a bit showy, with his shoulders, back, and slivers of leg exposed, but remained tasteful and elegant. The outfitters roped him in rings and bracelets.

Naakti (of course) tittered disapprovingly at the lily still tucked behind his ear, going on about how it didn’t match the outfit, but Lance swatted him away when he moved to take it. As if he was gonna give it up over some dress. It  _ was _ a nice dress, though.

After everything was on, Naakti and his army of assistants looked over him with critical eyes, and Lance felt like squirming out of his skin.

“No no no,” Naakti said, “something’s wrong. Ugh!” He squawked, throwing his arms around. Lance looked at him, panicked. “We’ll have to start again; burn the dress. This is a disaster! I can’t―”

An assistant reached out and minimally adjusted the dress’ collar.

Naakti cut off. “Oh. Well, problem solved.”

“We’re almost done,” another said to him, turning him back towards the mirror. “Everything fits well, yes?” Looking himself over, Lance nodded. He actually looked… really good, and he wasn’t just building himself up. He felt good in a way he actually believed.

After the entirety of five seconds he had to look himself over, Naakti was spinning him around again, this time with something in his hands. “Finishing touches,” he said, bordering on cheeky, and brought a makeup brush to his face. He didn’t do anything too complicated, but Lance was fairly sparkly by the end of it.

Naakti turned Lance back to look at himself in the mirror, and frowned when he didn’t react.

“Would you rather not have it on?” He asked.

“No, no, it’s fine. I just…” He hadn’t had his makeup done this cleanly in a while. All he managed to bring to space was some basic concealer. The shimmery eyeshadow reminded him of his older sister and the late-night makeup sessions they’d had as kids; taking their mother’s supplies when she was asleep. As an adult, she’d gotten stupid good at it, and still did his from time to time. When he was back on Earth.

Lance cleared his throat, and his mind. “It’s just been awhile, that’s all. I look great.” Naakti preened.

“Your footwear,” another Dae said, handing Lance a pair of heels,  _ tall _ heels. They were at least five inches.

“You trying to make me as tall as all of you?” Lance joked, pulling them on. The Daes smiled back at him, some chuckling.

“The ballroom is through the carved doors on your left,” Naakti informed him.

“Got it. I look  _ awesome _ . Thanks guys!” Lance called as he left.

As he went down the hall, he heard the powerful clicking of his heels and felt giddy. He was going to  _ rock _ this ball. He threw open the doors dramatically, drawing attention to himself.

“Hey everyone,” he called out. “Miss me?” The guests in the general area didn’t spare him much more than a glance before going back to their conversations. The ballroom itself was circular and well-lit despite the night. The ceiling was pointed and carved as well. On the opposite wall from where Lance stood was long banquet table, and to his right, a stage being set up by some musicians. Coincidentally (or maybe not), the room was decorated with magma lilies and what looked to be the blue cacti Keith had taken an interest to earlier, along with multitudes of other plants, although they weren’t as prominent.

“Oooooh!” Someone had called in response to his entrance, and Lance watched as Hunk made his way through the crowd of Daes. Hunk was dressed in a flowy pink halter top (which Lance suspected was to show off his arms) and short-shorts, the tops of both featuring translucent capes. He was completely  _ adorned _ in gemstones ranging from greens to blues. Even his signature headband was replaced by a crown of them.

“Lance, you look great!”

“Hunk!  _ Hunk _ . Have you  _ seen _ yourself? I’m in pure awe.” Lance looked away dramatically, throwing his hand to his forehead like a swooning lady. Then, being Lance, he actually swooned, and Hunk caught him good-naturedly with a chuckle. Closer up, Lance saw makeup on Hunk as well. “Oh, who's handsome arms have I awoken in?”

“Thanks, dude,” Hunk laughed again, putting Lance back on his feet. “Hey, have you seen anyone else around here? I can’t see around all the Daes. They’re so  _ tall _ .”

“True,” Lance agreed. “Let’s go look.”

As if on cue, the door behind them slowly inched open. Keith poked his head through, looking anxious. Making eye contact with Lance and Hunk, he turned red at being caught shy, and quickly entered the room.

Two strips of peachy fabric were pulled across his torso in an X pattern, but he had the same shorts as Hunk, held up by a squiggly belt with a large rose made of a delicately carved metal as a buckle. A cape poured from the belt, along with another draping from a pearl necklace, which had matching bracelets.

But that’s not what Lance got stuck at, nope. It was that stupid mullet, pulled back into a ponytail and adorned with a full and flush flower crown.

Hunk balled his hands under his chin with an  _ aww _ as Lance’s brain promptly short-circuited.

“Um. Hey guys,” Keith mumbled.

“Keith! You look good, man! That flower crown is great man, you should totally borrow one of my headbands sometime…” Lance couldn’t keep up with the conversation. He looked away, bright red, in an attempt not to openly gawk at Keith.

“Lance? Hey, Lance?” Hunk called.

“Um. Yeah, sorry, what were you saying?”

Hunk quirked an eyebrow at him, which Lance glowered at. “We were talking about your dress, man. How’s it feel?”

“Oh, this? Pretty comfortable, really,” he answered, twirling around to accentuate it. Keith looked at him, confused. “What? Got a problem with the dress?” He said defensively.

“No, no, it’s just… how do you move so easily in those?” He asked, pointing at Lance’s shoes. While Hunk wore sandals, Keith was in heels similar to Lance’s, keeping them the same height. “Mine are so hard to walk in.”

“Dude, have you never tried walking around in your mom’s heels when she wasn’t around?” Keith scowled at him, and Hunk winced. “Oh, oh crow, sorry sorry, I completely forgot, uh…” He looked to Hunk for help, when suddenly music had started up from the stage.

“Here, let’s, uh,” he rambled as he grabbed onto Keith and pulled him into the crowd as everyone began pairing up. “Come dance, that’ll help you get used to them!” Keith fumbled behind Lance, trying and failing to keep his balance. As they got them to a clearing and Lance stopped, Keith flopped into his arms.

“S-sorry,” he stuttered out as he regained his balance and stood upright. The music started slow, so Lance looped his arms around Keith’s neck. Keith froze.

“Don’t you know how to dance?” Lance teased.

“Yeah― yes. Yes I do.” Keith found the mobility in his arms and hesitantly dropped them around Lance’s waist. Lance chuckled.

“Okay, whatever you say, mullet-man.” Keith relaxed a bit at the teasing and rolled his eyes. They swung in circles for a bit, matching the beat of the string instruments that filled the air, before Keith cleared his throat.

“So, you still have the flower?” Lance reached reflexively to his right ear, and yep, the flower was still there.

“Yeah. I like it…” he trailed off. “It’s kinda funny,  _ I’m _ wearing the flower  _ I _ picked for you.”

Keith hummed. “Keep it. It suits you.”

“Oh, does it?” Lance smirked “I thought blue was more of my colour.”

“Red looks good on you too.”

“With you draped around me like this, I can’t say you’re wrong.” Keith blushed, and looked away, trying to scowl before it helplessly melted back into a small smile. Lance let out a laugh.

“Lance! Keith! There you are.” Allura interrupted as she pushed through the crowd, dressed almost identically to Lance but in purples, and with more jewels to indicate her royalty. Two Daes trailed along behind her. “I’d like you to meet the― wait, were you two dancing?”

The two boys flew off each other with a start; with Keith demonstrating his lack of grace in his shoes.

“Anyways…” Allura continued, “Meet Paedota and Teelik, queens of the Dae.” The first Dae was burgundy with black-tipped feathers. She extended a hand to both Lance and Keith, which the both shook.

“Greetings. I’m Paedota. It’s an honour to meet the red and blue paladins.”

“And I’m Teelik,” the other said. She had familiar blue and yellow feathers. In fact, she looked just like…

“Hey!” Lance all but screeched. “ _ You’re _ the Dae that left us on the roof!”

Teelik giggled. “Yeah! So, how was the sunset?” Lance was unable to form sentences and gaped like a fish, so Keith answered for him.

“It was, uh, very beautiful. Thank you,” he added on nervously. Paedota looked over at her wife curiously.

“You’ve already met the paladins?” She asked.

“Just these two,” Teelik responded. “I asked them to pick flowers for the ball. I wanted a romantic theme, so I asked them for help, since I’m still not to sure on how humans perceive romance.”

“So you asked  _ Keith _ and  _ Lance _ for help?” Allura interrupted.

“I thought the two were in a romantic relationship, but I had been mistaken.”

Allura looked like she wanted to burst out into laughter and did the bear minimum to hide it. “Oh, really?” Keith had apparently decided the walls were the most interesting thing in the universe, and was watching them intently. Lance wanted to die a little bit.

“Yes, but apparently they simply hadn’t told each other about their feelings, so I was a few steps ahead.” Teelik laughed a bit.

“Wait,  _ what?” _ Lance absolutely screeched.

“Did you not tell him on the roof?” Lance looked like he was going to be sick. “Oh. Whoops. Sorry.”

“Teelik,” Paedota said, lowering her voice a smidge, “the sunset? The roof? Did you take them to  _ our _ skylight?”

“Maybe…”

“ _ Your _ skylight?” Lance asked.

Paedota turned to him, suddenly embarrassed. “I suppose. It’s where I proposed to Teelik.”

“Very romantic,” the aforementioned added.

“Proposed,” Lance wheezed quietly.

After swallowing her laughter, Allura cleared her throat, drawing everyone’s attention to her. “If we’re done here, there are other paladins to talk to.”

“My apologies,” Paedota said. “Goodbye paladins.”

“Goodbye!” Teelik called back cheerily as Allura lead the two away.  
Lance stood frozen in place as they left. “Well,” he stated.

“Was―” Keith started, before shutting his mouth and then examining the floor.

“What?”

“Was she right?” He asked, face red and crossing his arms protectively.

“Keith, throw me a bone. I can’t read your mind.”

“When Teelik was talking about  _ feelings,” _ he spit, “that I― we, well― was she right?”

“I― was she?”

Keith looked at him incredulously. “That’s my question. I asked you first.”

“Well, I asked you second!” Lance’s voice raised a few octaves.

“I don’t― ugh!” Keith dragged his hands down his face. “Fine! Yes. She was right. On― on my part anyways.”

“Okay.” Lance half-turned.

“‘Okay’?”

“Yes.”

Keith snorted. “I can’t believe you. I confess my stupid crush on you and you say ‘okay’?”

“But it  _ is _ a confession? Of a stupid crush?”

“God, Lance, if you’re gonna make fun of me, save it.”

Lance whipped back around, with rose-tinted cheeks. “No! No, I wouldn’t. I’m sorry. I just wanted to make sure.” He faltered. “I…  _ might _ also have one. A stupid crush.”

Keith went wide-eyed. “Oh.”

“ _ I can’t believe you,” _ Lance said, dropping the pitch of his voice and bringing his hands to the back of his head, “ _ I confess my stupid crush on you and you say ‘oh’?” _

Keith laughed. “Is that supposed to be an imitation of me?”

“Of course. Dead-on, if you ask me.”

“What was that you were “imitating” with your hands?”

“The mullet, duh.”

Keith laughed again, and Lance felt himself shine from head to toe.

 

* * *

 

They spent the rest of the night dancing and joking around. Lance couldn’t remember a single moment they were apart, even when one of them went to grab some food or a drink. Keith stuck to him like glue (it didn’t help that walking in his shoes was still proving difficult), but then again Lance supposed he was stuck to Keith too.

The slow songs the musicians performed were for lazy circles, but every once and awhile the beat would pick up and they would take turns spinning each other around, which ended up with both paladins giggling. They spent their time idly chatting, joking, and when Lance thought one up, the occasional terrible pickup line. Keith laughed at every single one though, so Lance definitely thought they were worthwhile.

And if during some of the  _ really _ slow songs Lance whispered  _ boyfriends _ into Keith’s ear just to watch him turn pink, well.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!! fun fact: the first draft was written just after season 1, the second draft after season 2, and now we're here. Voltron owns my soul please help


End file.
